Dividends… Explained!

Do you like my camera skills? I love the iPhone- its so easy- take a picture and send it to myself in an email and….voila! A picture for my blog is ready! Anyway, I digress, we're talking about dividends here.

Dividends, according to Investopedia are profits from the company and they can be either reinvested into the company or paid out in the form of dividends:

“Dividends may be in the form of cash, stock or property. Most secure and stable companies offer dividends to their stockholders. Their share prices might not move much, but the dividend attempts to make up for this.”

I like the words “secure” and “stable”. Usually only big time companies (corporations) offer dividends to their stockholders. High growth companies reinvest their earnings into the company to make the company grow bigger and faster. High growth companies' share prices may move more.

Canadian Corporations Dividend Tax Credit

Canadian corporations that pay out dividends get a tax break, so you get one too. In fact, the dividend income (which you have to report or else the tax man will be after you) that you get is tax efficient. Dividend income from Canadian corporations are taxed at a lower rate than other forms of income.

You get a dividend tax credit (you'll see the dividends paid out on your T5 slips) which you submit during tax season. The formula is pretty complicated, but it pretty much sums up to you paying very little in dividend taxes. The dividend tax credit came about because the Canadian government doesn't want to tax you twice (it taxed the corporation already so it won't tax you as much).

Canadian Dream Free at 45 explains the Canadian Dividend Tax Credit in Depth on his blog.

Also, sometimes you get a negative tax amount with Canadian dividends, and this can be used to reduce the taxes payable. Taxtips.ca explains in depth.

However, the Canadian government doesn't get a hoot If you bought a foreign (e.g. US) corporation's stock and it paid out dividends. These dividends would be considered foreign and you won't get a tax break. They don't care about taxing you twice. You'll pay tax on that dividend like you pay tax on a GIC (interest income) or other non-tax efficient sources of income. Before you know it, that chunk of money will be whittled away to something much smaller.

So what do you need to look for in a dividend paying stock?

You want to look at the Dividend Yield. Let's take FTS.TO for example (it's a gas and electricity utility company) . It's current dividend yield is 3.46. So if you were to buy it at its current price of $32.33, the percentage back you would get in dividends is 3.46%. The current dividend is $0.28 quarterly. Multiple that by four, you get $1.12. $1.12/$32.33= 3.46%.

You can see that the dividends paid out for the past year is $1.10 ($0.28 Aug, May, Feb and $0.26 last November).

That's another good sign. When they have CONSISTENTLY increased their dividends over a long period of time, you know the corporation you're investing in a stable company and your investment shouldn't (but you never know, I suppose) hurt your portfolio.

FTS.TO went from $0.16 a share in 2006 to $0.28 a share! That's a 75% increase in dividends in less than five years.

What if this whole dividend thing isn't for you?

I know – I'm a geek for this type of thing! Counting up dividends and using ratios and percentages isn't everyone's idea of a Saturday afternoon well spent – I get that! If you're looking for a more hands-off solution, the robo advisor platforms that have risen in popularity over the last couple of years are a great option for Canadians of all ages. It's a much more hands-off solution than dividend investing (you obviously still get dividends through the companies that you own, you just don't have to worry about splits, re-investing them, etc). You can check out our Ultimate Guide to Canada's Robo Advisors if you're looking for more of an overall look at the industry, and if you're looking for a recommendation on the best specific robo advisor, here's our Wealthsimple Review that looks at our top-ranked Canadian robo advisor. Robos like Wealthfront and Betterment have been operating for years down in the States, so it's nice to see them come up here and claim their piece of the market!

Readers, this is a very basic explanation of dividends, is there anything else I might be missing that you want to add?What portion of your portfolio do you include Canadian dividend paying corporations?

Young is a writer and former owner of Young and Thrifty and the main "twitter' behind Young and Thrifty's twitter account. She lives in Vancouver, BC and enjoys long walks on the beach, spending time with her anxious dog, and finding good deals. If you like what you read, consider signing up for email updates.

26 Comments

Yes, owning all companies that consistently increase dividends is great, but they are a rare breed. If you hold stocks long enough, some simply can’t keep up. MFC increased for many years, and then ran into a small wall. I’m afraid the same will happen to Sun Life at some point. (I own that, not MFC). Oh well, I figure as long as I’m getting paid, that’s the main thing. Dividends never lie 🙂

The Raton October 25, 2010 at 8:11 pm

I like the favorable tax treatment with dividends in comparison to say interest income derived from GICs, etc.

Great job highlighting Fortis as an example. I bought FTS for my TFSA last year and it’s a great example of a large-cap company that just pays a consistent dividend. I almost forget to check on my position.

I think you’re not giving yourself enough credit regarding the article being very basic, because a lot of people I meet don’t realize that the tax impact of buying U.S. dividend paying stocks results in the dividends being treated as interest income.

Of course, that is the downside of investing in U.S. equities. The upside however, is hard to ignore. Given the value of the Cdn dollar and the fact that it allows the investor to gain exposure to sectors normally not available in Canada (such as JNJ, PG, CL, KO, etc.) while further diversifying with foreign plays, makes them hard to resist IMO. I have yet to dive in with some U.S. equity purchases, but I’m hoping to in the very near future.

Awesome post.

youngon October 26, 2010 at 2:12 am

@Financial Cents- I think Sun Life is different though, because Sun Life doesn’t have exposure in the market as much (or at all, i think) like MFC. I like how you said “Dividends Never Lie” that could be like a new personal finance movie title lol! Very catchy 🙂

youngon October 26, 2010 at 2:16 am

@The Rat- So happy to see you hear Rat! Hope to see you around more 🙂 FTS has really sky rocketed eh? perhaps everyone else found out how great FTS is… That’s true re: US equities. Some of them have great consistent dividends and are great companies. I think it would be good to have US equities a registered account to avoid the taxes. Guess it depends on the amount of dividend payments too in US equities. 🙂

TorontoSteveon October 26, 2010 at 6:21 am

“FTS.TO went from $0.16 a share in 2006 to $0.28 a share! That

youngon October 28, 2010 at 1:31 am

@TorontoSteve- Oops thanks for noticing the typo. Oftentimes I am writing these posts late into the night so my brain doesn’t work properly sometimes. My bad! Thanks Steve.

Pat @ DNWon October 28, 2010 at 10:20 pm

what tips would you give to the new investors that become concerned when the stock price dips after a dividend payment?

youngon October 28, 2010 at 11:39 pm

@Pat- Hello Pat 🙂 You work with Mike at The Financial Blogger too right? I think I would tell new investors to hold on to the dividend paying equity- the market fluctuates momentarily all the time, and some people like to take advantage of buying before the dividend payout and cashing out after… these are just momentary dips of the mood of mr. market.

I love dividend stocks! Invest in companies that have consistently raised dividends and have scope for growth. Companies with very high dividends can spell trouble (always check the company’s debt and cash flow).

Sad that Canada’s going to tax Canroys. But it was good while it lasted!

youngon November 1, 2010 at 10:52 pm

@Moneycone- Yeah I’m going to milk those suckers until Canada starts their new tax law lol.

Profits from the company can be either reinvested into the company or paid out in the form of dividends. Using by this, it can be easily paid out.

Jean Bullingtonon November 7, 2011 at 11:22 pm

Interesting Topic. “Canadian Corporations Dividend Tax Credit”. This idea might have a good and bad impact to others.

Robinon November 9, 2011 at 10:09 pm

Great article! This might a big help to people who doesn’t even know about dividends.

ErlindaDolphinon November 10, 2011 at 6:20 pm

@Robin. Yeah I agree with you! That might be.

Alma Myerson November 10, 2011 at 6:40 pm

@Jean Bullington,
“This idea might have a good and bad impact to others.”

I agree on you but on my own opinion, let our Leaders decide and investigate about this issue. ^_^

Kathleenon November 10, 2011 at 6:57 pm

@Robin: I agree with you man because I really don’t have any idea about dividends but this article gives me a lot of information.

lennyon November 10, 2011 at 10:20 pm

Dividends its my first time to hear that kind of word.Can anyone give some information about this?

Joan Washingtonon November 10, 2011 at 10:22 pm

Great post. I always hear the word “dividend” but i don’t know about its exact meaning. I learn from this blog.

Paton November 14, 2011 at 2:26 am

@Robin, All we can do is to spread this blog.

Alena Mitchellon November 14, 2011 at 3:51 am

@Joan. Like you, I having a doubt about the meaning of dividend. I learn a lot to this post. Thank you.

Zoeon November 14, 2011 at 4:33 am

I agree with you guys! Me too don’t have any idea about this blog. Can anyone there give us some information? Thanks!

Calling You On Iton November 6, 2013 at 5:17 pm

It is important that people understand the difference between the income and capital value of a dividend producing stock (or fund).

Think of it like a house that you own that pays you rent. The price of the house doesn’t really matter, as long as you don’t need to sell it right now, so long as you keep getting your rent payments, it’s all good.

PJon April 25, 2014 at 11:01 pm

i get the dividend income tax benefit, but you are still paying taxes. why not just buy dividend stocks through your tfsa? am i missing something?

You absolutely could if you have room in your TFSA PJ. Also, of note, if you make a low enough salary you can actually make money on the way dividend income is treated with taxes, depending on a few variables.

Doug is right. If you buy into and shout onto 500 pages, sure 2 will be annoyed but 50 will be aaitvcted. They will buy some back in the hours following. Yet, I’m one of those two IF you buy one share and tell me about it. As many have seen, I HATE it. lol. Yet, the core of this is: your #EAv score and it’s partial effect on your divs will be great when you own shares in many stocks, and do SOME #EAv groceries a day. SOME is just perfect. I’m pretty sure the effect-difference between 1 and 20 shoutouts/interactions is bigger than the difference between 20 and 100. My #EAv score is over 50 and I do not use some buying machine gun thing. Buying shares of 500 peeps instead of 20 surely does NOT make your divs go from 0.7 to 1.0. So, please, people, stop doing 5000 actions a week on #EAv. It’s useless. And can only be unpersonal (you can never honestly engage, reply, etc. when buying hundreds a day) and, to me clearly, annoying. Wanna drive up your divs? Be active on 5 platforms a day. And, best, enable some true engagement on social networks. Have some real and nice talks. Don’t go looking for it. Just engage. I’ve been on 0.8 once and told someone I’d be at 1.1 within a week. I was. Just by driving more conversation, and being a dumb LIKE-clicker on Youtube on 10 movies a day. But, looking at my stock, a 0.7 div on a 230e share works fine. People buy me, and I truly engage. It’s just real and to me it’s just perfect as it is. Cheers!

Lana Joneson February 18, 2018 at 8:03 pm

Ana, I didn’t understand a thing you said. I am very new to the stock market and sorry but I found your comment to be totally useless to me.

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